1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to rotation knobs for surgical instruments having rotatable end effector assemblies.
2. Background of Related Art
As an alternative to open surgical instruments for use in open surgical procedures, many modern surgeons use endoscopic apparatus for remotely accessing tissue through smaller openings or incisions. As a direct result thereof, patients tend to benefit from less scarring, fewer infections, shorter hospital stays, less pain, less restriction of activity, and reduced healing time. A typical endoscopic instrument includes a housing, an end effector assembly, and a shaft interconnecting the housing and the end effector assembly. The housing includes one or more controls that are operable to control the end effector assembly such that the end effector assembly may be inserted through the opening in tissue and into the internal surgical site, while the housing remains externally disposed, allowing the surgeon to manipulate the housing controls to control operation of the end effector assembly within the internal surgical site.
An endoscopic surgical forceps, for example, includes a plier-like end effector assembly which relies on mechanical action between its jaw members to grasp, clamp and constrict vessels or tissue. Energy-based surgical forceps utilize both mechanical clamping action and energy, e.g., electrical energy, ultrasonic energy, light energy, thermal energy, etc., to treat tissue. In some procedures, once the tissue has been treated, the surgeon has to sever the tissue and, as such, many forceps have been designed which incorporate a knife or blade member that effectively severs the tissue after treating the tissue.
The housings of endoscopic surgical forceps typically include a movable handle for opening and closing the jaw members, a trigger for selectively advancing the knife or blade, and an actuator for controlling the supply of energy to the end effector assembly. Further, some handle assemblies incorporate a rotation assembly that is operable to selectively rotate the end effector assembly in order to position the end effector assembly as desired within the internal surgical site.